This week we welcome Jann Everard (Blue Runaways, Stonehewer Books, March 2024) to the podcast. In a switch-up to our regular fare of novelists, Jann’s women’s fiction debut is a collection of twelve short stories instead and we spend time talking about how one goes about first picking the selections (including looking at themes and cohesion), then ordering them for flow and pace, and finally the challenge of getting a collection published in today’s market. If you’ve ever wondered about writing short fiction, this episode will give you a glimpse behind the scenes of an alternative marketplace for your creative ideas. Jann Everard is a Canadian author who began writing later in life and published her first work at age 45 in Canada’s national newspaper The Globe and Mail. She went on to become an award-winning writer whose stories have been published in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland. Born in Halifax, Canada, Jann settled in Toronto, where she worked in health administration and raised two sons. A life-long traveler and outdoorswoman, she now makes her home on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, hiking, kayaking, writing, and being inspired by nature. Blue Runaways is a Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist and received an Honourary Mention from the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society Book Awards for British Columbia Authors. To learn more about Jann, click here.
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282: Melissa Bacon - Author of Through Her Lens
Our guest this week is Melissa Bacon (Through Her Lens, Atmosphere Press, April 2024). What if you aren’t setting out to build a career as an author but instead have one fascinating book you’re dying to write? Where most of the writers on the pod hope to write more books, Melissa, a fine art photographer and statistician, took 10 years to research and write her historical novel set in Britain during WWII, and isn’t all that sure she wants to do it again. And that’s okay in our book. Meanwhile, she loves the feeling of holding a book with her byline in her hands and is excited about bringing this untold story of women analysts and the contribution they made to the Allied victory to the world. Melissa Clark Bacon was raised and stayed in Little Rock, Arkansas. She writes stories and makes photographs using historic and alternative printing processes. Her short story, The Handkerchief, where her character Millie first appears, won Best in Show Adult Fiction Short Story at the Grand Prairie Festival of the Arts. Her current creative work focuses on revealing unnoticed women from the past through captivating stories and photographs that aspire to elevate their contributions and offer them up as role models to women today. To learn more about Melissa, click here.
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281: Gail Priest - Author of Soul Dancing
This week we welcome Gail Priest to the podcast (Soul Dancing, Red Adept Publishing, May 2024) Gail comes out of a theatre background and her previous work included plays so the first thing she writes is all the dialogue, then goes back and adds in scene, description, action, and all the rest of the connecting tissue. Her debut is a tale of an unusual love triangle with more than a hint of magic realism and she picked a small press primarily based on its offering of a developmental edit. We discuss her best tips for finding small presses (including WFWA resources) and why seeking agent representation may not be the answer for everyone. Gail Priest has a passion for women’s fiction. Her degrees and work in theatre and counseling psychology inspire her stories about healing from family trauma and secrets. A dash of romance and her love of second chances are always in the mix. Her most recent novel, Soul Dancing, was selected as 2024 Book of the Year by the American Writing Awards. Her other award-winning books include The Annie Crow Knoll Trilogy, A Collingwood Christmas, and East Shore Shorts. Gail lives in New Jersey with her husband and their Havanese dog, Annie. When she's not writing or teaching, Gail can be found reading or looking for birds and sea glass along the beaches and bays of the East Coast. To learn more about Gail, click here. A resource mentioned during this interview: Suzy Approved Book Tours
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280: Jayna Sheats- Author of Hanna's Ascent
My guest this week is Jayna Sheats (Hanna’s Ascent, Bedazzled Ink Publishing, June 2023). Growing up a poor boy in rural Colorado, Jayna went on to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford, founded 3 companies, and holds several patents, but her biggest achievement was embracing her core identity as a trans woman 20 years ago and writing a literary novel that explores the trauma and triumphs which lay at the heart of that experience. After 200,000 revisions, 5 book coaches, and 203 submissions, the manuscript found its home at Bedazzled. We discuss her journey as well as whether it helps or hinders your novel to have its subject matter at the epicenter of the cultural and political zeitgeist. Jayna Sheats grew up on a Colorado ranch without electricity, neighbors, or schools, but obtained a ham radio license when she was seven. After language and psychology studies in Colorado and Germany and a PhD in chemistry from Stanford University, she became a researcher and entrepreneur, publishing 60 scientific articles and book chapters, and started three companies. As creator of Hewlett-Packard's e-Inclusion program she worked with Dr. Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh on telecenters for the poor. Today she lives with her children in northern California, hikes frequently in the redwoods, and writes novels involving social justice and triumph over trauma. To learn more about Jayna, click here.
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279: Micki Berthelot Morency- Author of The Island Sisters
My guest this week is Micki Berthelot Morency (The Island Sisters, BHC Press, June 2023). Her book is a perfect adjunct for Women’s Fiction Week as her inspiration for putting pen to paper was to give voice to the often-unheard from victims of physical and mental abuse—women she encountered growing up in Haiti as well as women she worked with in her career as a care manager in the U.S. We explore the challenge of writing in a “third” language (after Creole and French), how her book found a home at a small publisher, and the success she’s had going outside the typical “book promotion channels” like bookstores and libraries into college campuses, often sponsored by sexual assault and other support organizations, including one university that including it in their class curriculum. Micki Berthelot Morency is a Haitian-American, who has lived in the US for decades. Her debut novel, THE ISLAND SISTERS was launched in 2023. She’s a graduate of Northeastern University and The Institute for Writers. Micki is a fierce advocate for women and children. Her stories have appeared in Writer’s Digest Magazine, The Tampa Bay Times, The Weekly Challenger, Print magazines and E-zines. Micki is a mother of daughters. She lives in Florida with her husband. To learn more about Micki and her writing, click here.
If you’re an aspiring author and want insights into what’s involved in launching a book into the world, this is the podcast for you. Maggie Smith, author and blogger, interviews debut novelists from the Women’s Fiction Writers Association discussing not only the inspiration behind their book, but also their insights into the writing process, the best advice they ever got, and the joys and sometimes pitfalls they encountered on their path to publication.
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